Swansea, Illinois Man and East St. Louis Precinct Committeeman Arraigned on Federal Tax and Election Offenses

April 9, 2010 - A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on April 8, 2010, MICHAEL V. COLLINS, age 45, of Swansea, Illinois, was arraigned on federal charges in a 10-count indictment charging him with three counts of tax evasion, three counts of failure to timely file tax returns, one count of bank fraud, and three counts of election fraud by providing false residence information in voting. The offenses carry a total maximum statutory punishment of up to 63 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $2.8 million, and up to three years supervised release.

The indictment alleges that MICHAEL V. COLLINS committed tax evasion and attempted to conceal his income by commingling business and personal assets; by failing to provide his correct Social Security Number, by operating a business under a fictitious Employer’s Identification Number, through the submission of false certified payrolls which falsely reflected that his employees’ federal income tax withholdings and FICA taxes were withheld and paid in, through the receipt and expenditure of cash, without record keeping, and through the failure to maintain accurate books and records.

The Indictment further alleges that MICHAEL V. COLLINS knowingly and willfully gave false information as to his address for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to vote in a voting district in East St. Louis in that he falsely represented that he lived at 22 Loisel in the City of East St. Louis when in fact he resided at 4382 Red Field Drive, Swansea, Illinois and during that same period of time he was elected to be a precinct committeeman in East St. Louis when he was living in Swansea, Illinois.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

Information for the indictment was obtained in an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Labor/Office of Labor Racketeering. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Norman R. Smith.